Скачать или смотреть Utilizing Meristem Culture to Eliminate Endophytic Contaminants in Cannabis Strains - Dr Maria Rojas

Tags: Cannabis Genomics, Cannabis Genetics, Meristem Culture, Cannabis Clones, Endophytes, Cannabinoid Production

Dr. Maria Rojas, Director of Pathology at Conception Nurseries (‪@conceptionnurseries6102‬) presents "Utilizing Meristem Culture to Eliminate Endophytic Contaminants in Cannabis Strains" at CannMed 2025.

Meristem culture is an effective biotechnology tool widely employed to eliminate systemic endophytes, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi, from plants. In Cannabis sativa, endophytic contaminants can significantly affect plant health and cannabinoid yield and pose a challenge for large-scale cultivation. Meristematic tissue, located at the growing tips of plants, is free of vascular connections, where many endophytes commonly reside, and spread. Thus, meristems are an ideal source of pathogen-free plants. Through the isolation and cultivation of meristems, clean and robust cannabis clones can be developed, enhancing quality control and consistency in cannabinoid production. To evaluate the effectiveness of meristem culture in removing endophytic contaminants, advanced sequencing techniques and microbial profiling were used to compare endophytic communities before and after meristem culture.

Krona plots visualized and analyzed the endophytic loads of four cannabis strains (1512, 1354, 1513, and 1500) was evaluated using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) following both nodal and meristem intake. PDA plate indexing further identified colonies of endophytic contaminants. Plants derived from nodal tissue exhibited endophytic loads of 22-30% of the total DNA genome. Strains 1500 and 1513 showed high bacterial contamination, primarily Bacillus and Pseudomonas species, whereas strains 1512 and 1354 contained more pathogenic fungi, such as Fusarium. In contrast, plants from meristem culture exhibited a substantial reduction in endophytic load, down to 2-3%, with no pathogens detected. The presence of endophytes identified through NGS Krona plots, included Fusarium, Alternaria, Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Pseudomonas, was confirmed with PDA plate indexing. These results confirm that meristem culture is an effective approach for enhancing the health and quality of cannabis strains by significantly reducing endophytic contamination.

Learning Objectives:

⦾ Effectiveness of Meristem Culture
⦾ Use of Advanced Profiling Techniques to analyze and visualize shifts in microbial communities
⦾ Analyze and visualize shifts in microbial communities

0:00 - Intro
0:29 - Mersistem Culture
1:08 - Benefits of Clean, Disease-Free Plants
2:09 - The Importance of Pathogen Control in Cannabis
2:50 - Understanding Endophytes in Plants
3:48 - The Three Categories of Endophytes
5:11 - How Endophytes Live and Spread in Plants
6:20 - Microscopic Evidence of Endophytes
8:48 - The Problem with Pathogen Transmission through Cuttings
9:36 - When Endophytes Become Harmful
10:32 - Nodal vs. Meristem Tissue Culture
11:42 - The Disadvantages of Nodal Propagation
12:08 - The Key to Pathogen-Free Plants
13:37 - How Meristem Culture Prevents Contamination
15:29 - Comparing Meristem vs. Nodal Propagation Efficiency
16:14 - Evaluating Plant Performance with Meristem Culture
19:25 - Verifying Endophyte Presence
21:44 - Validating Pathogenicity
22:51 - Differences in Plant Growth & Yield
25:20 - When to Use Meristem Culture
26:20 - The Final Conclusion: A Cleaner, More Consistent Product

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The CannMed 25 Innovation & Investment Summit showcased its first international venue, the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach Resort in Puerto Rico from June 17 - 20, 2025. Since its inception at Harvard Medical School in 2016, CannMed has earned a reputation as the premier destination for cutting-edge research, emerging technologies, and investment opportunities. CannMed 25 continues this tradition with medicinal plant researchers, clinicians and venture capitalists who view this Summit as the industry’s number one showcase for the latest advances in plant-based science, medicine, cultivation, and safety.